Social Network Analysis Holds Promise for Analysis in Primary Care Setting

Main Category: Public Health
Also Included In: Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 28 Sep 2005 - 0:00 PDT

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Social network analysis, a way of measuring personal relationships, is a valuable tool for quantitatively analyzing relationships among people and understanding differences between practices.

The study finds this tool, which has traditionally been reserved for use in public and community health settings, could also be used in a primary care setting to analyze complex systems and help design interventions to promote organizational change within the practice.

Social Network Analysis as an Analytic Tool for Interaction Patterns in Primary Care Practices
By John Scott, M.D., Ph.D., et al

Annals of Family Medicine is a peer-reviewed research journal that provides a cross-disciplinary forum for new, evidence-based information affecting the primary care discipline. Launched in May 2003, the journal is sponsored by six family medical organizations, including the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Board of Family Medicine, the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, the Association of Departments of Family Medicine, the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors and the North American Primary Care Research Group. Annals is published six times each year and contains original research from the clinical, biomedical, social and health services areas, as well as contributions on methodology and theory, selected reviews, essays and editorials. A board of directors with representatives from each of the sponsoring organizations oversees Annals. Complete editorial content and interactive discussion groups for each published article can be accessed free of charge on the journal's Web site, http://www.annfammed.org.

Kristin Robinson
kristinr@aafp.org
913-906-6000
American Academy of Family Physicians
http://www.aafp.org
Sept/Oct 2005 Annals of Family Medicine tip sheet

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